The analysis of Internet legal and policy issues is aided by an understanding of the Internet's unique, layered architecture. This article proposes a conceptual model of the Internet that reflects its layered architecture. The model is offered to decision-makers, policy-makers, and legal analysts, not only as a roadmap or guide to understanding the Internet, but also as a tool for identifying Internet legal issues with the appropriate degree of granularity. Precise identification enables state and legal actors to assess the impact of policy choices in a comprehensive manner by allowing them to consider the implications of those policy choices for the Internet's various elements.

Following an introduction to the Internet's four conceptual layers along with its sublayers and elements, the author offers a typology of representative legal and policy issues for each layer. A number of issues are surveyed with regards to each sublayer. The specific examples of browse-wrap licenses, overlay software, e-mail service, and Internet protocol telephony are discussed in detail in order to illustrate the characteristic features and concerns of each layer of the Internet.

The analysis of Internet legal and policy issues is aided by an understanding of the Internet's unique layered architecture. Instead of being viewed as a monolithic whole, the Internet can be thought of as being composed of four different conceptual layers; from the top down these are: the content, application, operational, and physical layers. …

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